Thirty-five Capitol Police officers are under investigation — including six who have been suspended with pay — for their actions in the deadly January siege, according to the department.
Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman has indicated that any officer whose actions are found to be unacceptable on Jan. 6 will be disciplined, department spokesman John Stolnis said in a statement Thursday.
“Our Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the actions of 35 police officers from that day. We currently have suspended six of those officers with pay,” the statement read.
Some Capitol Police officers were caught on video watching the rioters enter Capitol Hill without taking any action.
In one video posted to YouTube, Capitol Police Lt. Tarik Khalid Johnson can be seen wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat while talking to several supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
Johnson — who has since been suspended from the department — donned the cap in order to gain the protesters’ trust so they could get him through the crowd and into the building so he could save his fellow officers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
At one point in the video, Johnson, 45, gives his megaphone to one of the protesters and says, “I’ll follow you.”
The Justice Department has charged more than 250 people for storming the Capitol during a vicious attack that left five dead, including veteran Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.
As a result, Trump was impeached a second time for inciting the insurrection at the Capitol, but the Senate failed to convict him.